As the attempted coup was taking place at the Capitol on January 6th, 2020, I was slumped in the passenger seat of my father’s car, my daughter driving, both of us waiting for a drive-up COVID test. She had lost her taste and smell and I had been struggling with a cold since Christmas and woke up that day feeliing like I had been run over by an extremely large and heavy vehicle. Friends were calling and texting to turn on the television or the radio to see what was going on. I could not lift my head.
I did not see any of the coverage that day, no video or commentary or anything at all. I went home, went to bed, and remained there for the rest of the month. There were days I understood completely how young healthy people were dying, as I did not have the energy to even roll over. My family made sure I drank gatorade and took the line up of medications for whatever symptom was most prevalent that day: Ibuprofen and acetaminophen together for the body aches; Immodium for the diarrhea; Pepto Bismal for the nausea and vomiting; Robitussin for the cough; and a saltine or two for nutrition as that was about all I could manage to choke down.
Then there were the long COVID symptoms. The brain fog, the buzzing in my head, the PTSD. Three years later and I still at times have one or more of these annoying distractions.
Watching the January 6th hearings late last year made me sick all over again. The video shown was almost more than I could manage; I had avoided watching any footage from that day. The news that Republican members of Congress had asked for pardons shocked me and after the last six plus years that’s really saying something. I wait for justice, cheer every new conviction, and wonder what might have been–on both of these fronts.
Did you have COVID? Did you watch the coup in real time? What did you think? Tell me in the comments.